Peter and Melanie brought their grown-up children with them from their home in the UK to get married in Central Park in August. Melanie is 49 and from North Wales and Pete is 50 and from Manchester in England. They met at work and had been together for six years when they got married. They said that their wedding day was “amazing and better than we had hoped for. Definitely achieved everything we wanted in a personal day, focused on us and close family while still having a thread of tradition and fairy-tale.”
Peter asked Melanie to marry him after a family gathering. After getting engaged they took a romantic trip to Chester to pick a ring and had lunch by the river. They had been engaged for three years when they got married. They did at first consider a traditional wedding close to home, “but we decided we wanted to make the day more special and focused on us and our children rather than wider family,” Peter told me. Then they considered getting married on a beach – the classic destination wedding. “We looked at getting married in the Seychelles, Mauritius and some other places, but we wanted something more unique, individual and a true fairy tale adventure,” he said.
I ask all of my couples who feature on the blog why they decided to get married. I’ll admit that I am usually quite impressed by the answers given by couples who are getting married for a second time. Perhaps many of those couples view marriage from a different perspective than those doing it the first time around. “It signifies the love we have for each other, said Peter. “Apart from everything else, we are best friends and could not imagine living without each other. We share so much together, have the same values and life goals and want to make a commitment to each other and share a name. Family is most important to us and we felt getting married demonstrated our true dedication,” he told me.
I asked them what their thoughts were on destination weddings and or elopements in general. “People and family’s needs are changing and when making such a big statement as marriage, people are increasingly wanting to focus on making it unique and special for them and not simply the expense of wider and distant family,” Peter said. “Marriage is about the individual couple and this is increasingly the focus over tradition,” he said. I asked him if they had any regrets about not going with their initial plan of getting married close to home. “No regrets, and we would recommend what we have done to anyone. You can make your own fairy tale,” he said.
So, what made Peter and Melanie choose Central Park for their wedding ceremony? “Central Park gave us all the bonus of the biggest, most exciting city in the world coupled with stunning scenery,” he said. “We had the right balance between privacy and public to make us feel like celebrities for the day,” he told me.
Peter and Melanie flew out to New York for a few days before the wedding with their grown up children. They all stayed in the Sheridan Times Square Hotel. Their kids are 27, 25 and 23. “This was a rare opportunity to share a holiday with all of our grown up children,” Peter told me, so that made the trip so much more special. “The kids were unsure what to expect but loved the whole experience and will consider this wedding option over traditional for themselves when the time comes,” said Peter. I planned a vow renewal for a couple a while back and their daughter contacted me recently about planning her wedding in Central Park, so this is not unheard of!
They held the wedding ceremony at Wagner Cove. “It was the perfect location for the ceremony and the initial pictures,” said Peter. “Bow Bridge was our favorite picture shot location and the photographer maximised the location’s beauty to produce some stunningly romantic shots,” he said. Melanie’s mom had written a poem especially for the ceremony, so our officiant read that as part of the introduction. We had arranged for a guitarist and singer to be there to perform their favorite songs for the group before and after the ceremony, and Peter and Melanie were able to have their first dance there at Wagner Cove. “The guitar player singing our favorite romantic songs really set the scene for the service,” said Peter. “The ceremony was amazing. With the support we had been provided we had been able to shape the wording of the ceremony to be more specific for us. The ability to personalise helped make it more special,” he said.
Melanie purchased her wedding dress from a specialist shop in Llandudno, Wales. “They had an excellent team that really helped get the right look,” she said. “I wanted traditional but functional walking around Central Park,” she told me. She carried cream roses in her bouquet. They used the hair and makeup team that I recommend who came to their hotel room beforehand. “They were excellent on the day. They really helped start the day and add one of the special touches,” Melanie told me.
After photos around Central Park they all returned to the hotel for drinks before moving on the Rockefeller Centre for a meal at The Capital Grille. I always ask for any restaurant recommendations, and they said that one stand out place to recommend was Ellen’s Stardust Diner, which has full on Broadway singing live as you eat. “Amazing and fun,” they told me.
I asked how we did. “The support provided by Claire at Wed in Central Park was definitely the key and we were not let down,” Peter said. “The local knowledge and experience coupled with care and understanding, really helped us shape exactly what we wanted with confidence. Wed in Central Park helped us build and deliver the romantic fairy-tale we were looking for,” he added. It was a pleasure working with you both to plan your wedding, and I wish you the best of luck for your future together. If you would like me to help you with planning your own Central Park wedding, visit our website. Keep updated with our news and see lots of beautiful photos, “like” us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and follow us on Pinterest.
